Academic to head bar association

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Duquesne University law professor Kenneth Gormley will become president of the Allegheny County Bar Association in July, making him the first lawyer from academia to serve as president of the 136-year association.

Before becoming a full-time professor, Mr. Gormley, 52, practiced law for about seven years with the law firm Mansmann, Cindrich & Titus, which no longer exists.

He currently serves as of counsel with Downtown firm Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis. He also taught at the University of Pittsburgh.

He specializes in constitutional law, first amendment issues and the American presidency at Duquesne, where he has taught since 1994.

Among his goals for his one-year term are taking the association's Gender Equality Task Force "to the next stage to figure out how to implement best practices so we don't have in 15 years the same disparities in opportunity." A survey by the association released last September showed the pay gap between male and female lawyers did not shrink in the years in the 15 years ended in 2005, even though more women joined law firms during that span.

Mr. Gormley grew up in Edgewood and Swissvale, and earned a bachelor's degree in political science and philosophy from Pitt and a law degree from Harvard Law School.